In this paper I convey a recurring problem and possible solution that arose during my doctoral research on the topic of cross-cultural Holocaust curriculum development for Latvian schools. Specifically, as I devised the methodology for my research, I experienced a number of frustrations concerning the issue of transferability and the limitations…

In contextualized instruction, the critical features of a context are considered important for the acquisition and transfer of a skill. Examples of contextualized instruction programs are Functional Context Education (FCE) and Anchored Instruction (AI). FCE involves the teaching of reading and mathematics skills in contexts that are relevant to…

Research indicates that people do not spontaneously transfer prior clues to solve problems, even though the necessary information is available in memory. To investigate the effects of the symmetry between clue statements and problem statements on problem solving performance, subjects were asked to provide plausible explanations for five…

This study investigated the effect of the administration of frequent and infrequent probe lists on generalization with four articulation disordered children (ages 3:10 to 5:8). Results indicated that frequency of probe list administration did not produce any predictable effect on the extent of generalization or the occurrence of a practice effect.…

In response to Whitman, "Self-Regulation and Mental Retardation" (EC 222 812), the author holds that deficits in self-regulation are probably only part of the reason mentally retarded persons have difficulty in generalizing trained behaviors to non-teaching settings. (DB)

This study, with 30 preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 30 controls, found a dissociation between limited learning of training targets (words, affixed forms) and limited bound-morpheme generalization (BMG) performance. Results suggest limited BMG reflects problems not with storage or access of facts but with the…

The study identified eight environmental stimuli present during the training of two moderately retarded students (ages six and nine). Results demonstrated that by altering one stimulus at a time, correct responding continued. Implications of the findings for stimulus control and generalization training are discussed. (Author/DB)

An experimental analysis of imitation was conducted to examine the influence of response topography on generalization of imitation across three response types with four children (ages two to four) with autism. The study found that imitation generalized from reinforced training models to nonreinforced probe models within a response type but did not…

A review of 25 studies found that demonstrations of successful generalization of skills by persons with profound mental handicaps were characterized by: several trained exemplars, trained behaviors likely to be reinforced in natural settings by natural consequences, use of training stimuli common to the generalization setting, and training in…

A procedure involving prompting, repetition of the correct response, and reinforcement was effectively used to teach three adults with profound mental retardation gestural yes-no responding. However, reliable generalization of the individuals' responses across settings or persons did not occur even after generality training. (Author/DB)

Discusses the impact of computer programing instruction on cognitive skills and suggests two mechanisms of transfer--low road, from practice, and high road, from generalization. Previous research that tried to measure transfer from programing is reviewed, six categories in which transfer might occur are presented, and 71 references are provided.…

This study addressed the problem of promoting generalization of knowledge in people with mental handicaps, by presenting an approach based on the idea that certain cognitive representations of strategies and related concepts are common to solving a wide variety of problems. The surface context of these problems may vary considerably, but all will…

Generalization across three stimulus parameters (therapist, setting, and demands) was examined for five men with severe/profound mental retardation whose self-injurious behavior was maintained by escape from task demands. Variables were held constant during the escape extinction treatment. Full or partial generalization to novel situations was…

This study compared discovery and expository methods of teaching lip-reading skills to 26 college students with normal hearing. No significant differences were found in method effectiveness. Training in consonant-vowel syllables was somewhat maintained four weeks later but did not generalize to word identification skills. (Author/DB)

In response to Whitman, "Self-Regulation and Mental Retardation" (EC 222 812), the author suggests that model weaknesses include its emphasis on language and cognitive processes, the questionable validity of the effectiveness of self-instruction techniques with lower functioning persons, and the mixed evidence for training generalization…